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by Anonymous



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Ableism, Collars, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dubious Morality, Fluff, Leashes, M/M, Master/Pet, Pet Play, Pet Therapy, Pet Tony Stark, humans as pets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-16 01:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: After Steve's therapist convinces him to join a pet therapy program, Nick Fury introduces him to a rather unusual pet.





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**Author's Note:**

> This is an au where some humans are straight up treated as pets, sometimes called domesticants. It's something they're born into and have no choice about. Some of the ways they are treated can be considered cruel and/or ableist as it isn't that different from how we'd treat a dog or a cat. It's considered perfectly normal in this world for those that have the money for it and owning a domesticant is about as controversial as owning a fancy breed of dog.
> 
> It should go without saying that I don't condone this kind of thing irl.
> 
> Updates will be infrequent and there is no guarantee I'll finish this thing, that said, letting me know what you think has a good chance of translating into more fic.

“Rogers, I’d like a word with you.”

Fury gave Steve a steady look as everyone else filed out the door, probably heading back to their quarters for some well-earned rest after the mission and subsequent debriefing. Steve wanted to do the same, or at least change out of his uniform, but Fury wouldn’t hold him back for something that wasn’t important.

When the last of the agents finally exited, Fury headed for the door, motioning for Steve to follow. He turned down the corridor, heading deeper into the administrative branch of SHIELD HQ. “I’ve been informed for your application to the pet therapy program,” Fury said, pushing the call button for the elevator. A second later the sleek metal doors opened.

“Are you rejecting my application?” Steve asked, stumbling a little as he followed Fury into the elevator, but he quickly recovered. “Dr. Kessman seemed confident of my acceptance when she recommended the program to me.”

Steve wasn’t sure if he’d be disappointed or not if his application was rejected. Dr. Kessman had pushed the program for months before Steve agreed to apply. He was sure pets made some people happy, but Steve never saw himself as a pet owning kind of guy. For the longest time he barely had the money to feed himself, never mind something else.

“No, I’m not rejecting your application, quite the opposite in fact. I need someone I trust to look after a certain pet for me and of the few people I’d trust, you’re the one that I think can give him what he needs,” Fury said just as the elevator doors sprung open.

“And what’s that?” Steve asked, following Fury out of the elevator toward what Steve recognized to be the entrance to his office. There wasn’t much Steve could really offer that someone else couldn’t. Protection maybe, but they were already in one of the securest places in the world.

“A home,” Fury said, glancing sideways at Steve’s baffled look before sighing. “He hasn’t had an easy going of it; he deserves a place where he can feel safe and cared for.”

Steve tensed as the door to Fury’s office slid open to reveal utter chaos. Papers were scattered everywhere, a chair was tipped over and the computer laid in pieces on the floor.

“Damn it, Stark!” Fury grumbled as he trudged into the office with Steve close behind. “I should have known I couldn’t leave him alone.”

A mop of fluffy black hair disappeared behind Fury’s desk then reappeared as a man peeked at Steve with guileless blue eyes. He wasn’t wearing any clothes that Steve could see, his chest and pebbled nipples on full display.  His plush lips, framed by a neatly groomed goatee, dipped into a frown before he slipped back under the desk.

“Come out of there Stark!” Fury growled at the desk, but several seconds passed and nothing happened. Fury looked out of his depth, but tried again. “You need to meet somebody. I found you a new home.”

Steve’s mouth gaped open. “That’s him? He’s the pet?”

“Want to see his pedigree? For all the little bastard is too smart for his own good, he’s a house pet, born and bred.”

“A domesticant?” Steve gasped, staring wide-eyed at the desk where the man in question disappeared.

Steve had heard of human pets before, of people carefully bred and trained to be ideal companions, but he’d never seen one up close. High-end pets like that were reserved for rumors and the silver screen. He never expected one to be offered to him.

Fury nodded, frowning at the desk. “Anthony, usually answers to Tony, last of the Stark line. A lot of people would pay a pretty penny for his genes alone.”

“So, he’s got a pedigree. Hardly seems worth your involvement.” Steve looked at Fury in askance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve could see movement under the desk. A pair of eyes peered out from underneath a moment later.

With a final glare at the desk, Fury began to search his pockets. “He was seized in a raid on the home of a weapons contractor suspected of dealing with terrorists. Apparently, he was also the source of ninety percent of their R&D department’s designs.”

“How?” Steve asked, dumbfounded.

One of the movies he’d snuck into with Bucky as a kid had a domesticant in it. She had been some rich heiress’ spoiled pet, doing nothing all day but sleep with her head in her master’s lap. Steve remembered how the domesticant needed her master’s help to even get dressed.

“The Stark line was bred for intelligence – particularly engineering brilliance, something his last owner clearly took advantage of, though it’s beyond me how he got the brat to cooperate instead of tearing up every advanced electronic in sight.”

A snort with a distinct sarcastic tone to it came from beneath the desk.

“See these, Stark?” Fury pulled out a bag of freeze-dried blueberries and waved them low enough Tony could probably see them. “They’re all yours if you fix my damn computer.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed and a few seconds later, he crawled out into the open. He’d been dressed in a pair of tight shorts and not much else. He reached for Fury’s snack.

Fury held them out of reach. “You know the deal.”

Tony’s mouth twisted into a snarl, but he only turned and stomped off to the center of the disaster area, grumbling softly under his breath. Fury pushed the bag of blueberries into Steve’s hands with a meaningful look.

“This is Captain Steve Rogers,” Fury said, pausing to nudge Steve closer to Tony. Though Tony showed no sign of having heard him, he continued. “He’s a good man and he was looking for someone to keep him company.”

“He works for you?”

Steve couldn’t stop a sharp intake of breath at Tony’s words. He’d been beginning to think he couldn’t talk at all.

“In a manner of speaking—he isn’t your typical SHIELD agent. Why don’t you get to know each other.” Fury nodded to them both and exited the office.

 

* * *

 

Tony’s hands were deft as he quietly put Fury’s computer back together, but Steve could sense him watching with an animal wariness. Steve settled down on the floor right at the edge of the strewn computer parts. He moved slowly, telegraphing his actions so as not to startle Tony.

He wasn’t sure what to make of Tony. He figured he could muddle along with caring for a dog or a cat, but a person, a domesticant, was a whole other matter. Would Tony even want to be Steve’s pet?

“Can I help?” Steve said, at a loss for what to do.

Tony looked up in surprise, making Steve wish he picked something else to say. But it was too late now, so he forged on ahead. “I, uh, don’t know much about computers, but I could pass you things?”

“Graphics card.” Tony pointed to one of the scattered parts and held out his hand.

Steve picked up a part near his knee. “This one?”

Tony cautiously took it from Steve’s hand before slotting it into the computer. He continued putting the rest of the parts together without asking for anything else. Tony had been slowly inching his way closer to Steve, so he was barely a foot away when he finally presented Steve with the completed computer, his eyes intent on the blueberries in Steve’s hands.

Steve held his breath as Tony crawled over his lap, reaching for the snack. As soon as Steve let him, he snatched the bag up and shook the blueberries directly into his mouth, making little happy noises all the while. He seemed content to stay draped over Steve’s lap, but Steve was afraid to even move.

“I’m not very good at this,” Steve confessed. “I don’t…”

The corners of Tony’s mouth twitched upward in a small smile. “You can pet me, if you want,” he said in between mouthfuls.

Steve hesitantly put a hand in Tony’s fluffy black hair. Tony leaned into the touch, wiggling a little until Steve began stroking it. It was kind of nice. Steve could feel the tension leaving his shoulders as he pet Tony. Similarly, Tony melted further into Steve’s lap with a pleased hum, only occasionally moving to direct Steve’s hand to a different spot.

This must be what Dr. Kessman had been talking about when she said pets helped people relax. Steve was doing fine on his own, mostly, but he could see how this might help. He just didn’t know how Fury thought Steve could give Tony a real home, when Steve struggled with finding one in this new century himself. He needed someone more well-adjusted than Steve to care for him, Steve just didn’t know who that could be.

“Life hasn’t really been fair to you has it?”

Tony frowned, going silent for a moment. He blinked up at Steve’s face, slightly befuddled.

“All this, with SHIELD, must have been a big change.” Steve waved a hand around at the office.

Tony shrugged, shrinking in on himself a little. “I’m used to it. Lots of masters got fed up with me before Obie.”

Steve tilted his head. “Obie?”

Tony rolled out of Steve’s lap and went over to the rebuilt computer, putting it between him and Steve. He ran his hands over the surface idly, focusing his attention on the mess of electronics in the back.

“He’s – was my master. He doesn’t do anything dumb like bring me to shows and gives me pizza if I make something he likes. He even lets me test my designs sometimes—the smaller ones that only blow up a little.” Tony stopped playing with the computer and looked up at Steve. “They told me he’s in trouble—‘suspected of dealing with terrorists’ and I have to have a new home now.”

Steve opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say. Tony didn’t deserve to get caught up in his owner’s crimes, but now he was paying for it. Steve didn’t know how exactly Tony was brought to SHIELD, but being pulled away from everything you know was painful no matter how it’s done.

“That’s you, right?” Tony pressed. Steve couldn’t identify the emotion in his voice, it almost sounded like hope.

Steve didn’t have a chance to answer, Fury returned the next moment.

“Captain? What do you think?”

 _Tony should go home with someone who doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night shivering, someone who can buy groceries without having to close their eyes._ Steve looked at Tony watching him, waiting to hear what he’ll say. “I’ll take him.”

“Then it’s settled. You have two weeks leave from all non-essential missions,” Fury said, handing Steve a file. “Look this over and finish filling out the paperwork in there and you can pick him at the kennel in the morning.”


End file.
